X-Men: New Mutants
by Punisher164
Summary: When a mutant boy discovers he has powers, things spiral out of control. Now, as a mutant, Jason Velasquez must grow accustom to his new powers, his new life, and being a mutant. His teenage life hits rock-bottom, but when he moves to the Xavier School For Gifted Youngsters, will his life get any better or will he continue to suffer because of the gene within him? Find out!
1. Issue 1: Origins

Author's Note: Hello readers both old and new. My name is Punisher and this is my story. Some of you may know me from Young Justice: Beta and some of you may not know me at all. Hopefully, when you read this, you'll become a fan of mine. Anyways, this is a new story of mine. Inspiration hit while reading X-Men comics both new and old so I came up with this story. This story will be about a team of teenage mutants told from the perspective of their leader. You'll get to know these characters. Some of them you know, some of them you don't. There will be OC's in this story, but I won't overburden you with them because, for some reason, people don't like OC's in stories on this website. I hope you enjoy this story and stick around for what's to come. Make sure to show your love in some way. Whether it's reviews, follows, favorites, etc. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for reading my story.

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Issue #1: Origins

My name is Jason Velasquez and I'm a mutant.

I remember the day I discovered I had powers, the day I was officially declared a mutant. I wonder if Spider-Man or the Fantastic Four were once considered mutants when they discovered their powers. If not, what's the difference between us? I get my powers when mutants are appearing throughout the world so that instantly makes me a mutant. They get their powers via some freak accident and BLAMO! They are loved and worshipped. Well, Spider-Man has his days when nobody shows love for the web-head. My point is, we all have powers, so what makes them better than us mutants? Because we have a specific gene within us, that's what makes us different from them? Is the X gene the reason why so many people fear and hate us? Why?

I'm sorry, I got sidetracked. Almost bursted into a whole rant about the ignorance of Homo Sapiens. Don't even get me started on those anti-mutant a-holes. As I was saying, I remember the day I found out I had powers.

It was March 24th, 2014. Obama was still in office, it was Spring time in Los Angeles. Overall, it was a good day. Until I kinda-sort-of burned my school down. Okay, okay, maybe I'm getting a little bit too far ahead of myself. I didn't burn my school down. But... I did scorch the halls and may have injured/killed a few people. Accidentally, of course. Listen, I know this sounds insensitive, but it happened a long time ago. I've moved on from that and I've done things to make up for that dreadful day. I still remember seeing their scared faces. Sometimes images of people burning because of my powers still haunt me. But I'm over it.

It was a surprisingly chilly day in Los Angeles, forcing parents to force their kids to wear a sweater of some kind. Some didn't own sweaters. California was usually a state known to be freakishly hot. I was in my 8th Grade science class sitting next to my friend Eddie. We sat in front of shiny brown rectangular tables with our science equipment displayed in front of us. We sat in the front of the class on the right side of the somewhat small room. Behind us and to our left were shiny brown rectangular tables. I'm sure you get the picture. The smell of sweaty gym socks plagued the room, leaving most of the students with a sour face. Our school didn't have showers and Gym class was the period before our Science class.

As our teacher went on and on about chemistry and how it's essential to our lives in some way, I studied the fire displayed in front of me. Above it was a beaker with some water within it. Something about blue fire always fascinated me. Probably because blue is my favorite color. But, to me, it always looked cool.

My friend Eddie, who looked like he belonged at the beach instead of school, elbowed my arm and nodded toward the teacher who stared directly at me.

"What's so fascinating about the fire, Jason?" My fresh-faced teacher asked, the kids behind me chuckling whenever one of their peers got caught dozing off.

"Sorry." I apologized and he went back to doing what he did best, putting half of the kids in the classroom to sleep.

Yet, he only cared when I didn't pay attention. Probably because it was a rare occasion and the fact that I was one of his best students. Only because the other students didn't even bother trying to get a grade above their C average, or even a B. There were others in the class that got an A, but they were the minority. I was just a B to B+ student doing what I was meant to do in school. Learn. I always liked to learn. Who doesn't? Sure, school can be tiring and boring at times, but sometimes you need to stick with it. You know? Anyways, I digress.

Now, as to what happened next, I still don't understand to this day. From the stories I've heard from other mutants, mine is kinda up there in the weird department. If such a thing exists, that is. I began to feel a burning sensation within me, not the good kind either. At first, it started deep within my chest and it spread like wild fire to my arms and legs. As I felt this heat within me, I began to sweat profusely. I unzipped my sweater and let it fall on the back of my seat.

"Is it hot in here or is it just me?" I whispered to Eddie while my teacher's back was against us.

"Shouldn't you be using that line on Paige?" Eddie joked with a sly grin. Of course he had to mention my crush, who was sitting directly behind us and could hear us. Yes, my friend Eddie made it much more worse for me.

Eddie chuckled at the look of embarrassment plastered all over my face, but his face contorted to a worried look as he noticed how much I was sweating.

My teacher seemed to have notice as well. "Jason, are you okay?"

I wiped some of the pile of sweat off my face and looked up to him. "I don't know."

"Is there something wrong?"

All I could say was, "I don't know."

"Jason, you're not exactly helping."

"I know. I'm sor-" My apology was interrupted by the overwhelming pain I felt within me. The burning sensation turned into sharp pain all over my body. I cringed as if I was stuck on the toilet after eating a bad taco.

I had to get up from my seat. I thought walking around would make it go away or something! As I was in pain, I could hear my classmates talk amongst themselves, declaring that my little stunt was a way for me to get out of the quiz my teacher was about to give before the end of class. Believe me, I would have come up with something a little bit painless as an excuse. Their conversations soon ended and now I heard most of them gasp, most of them swear, and a girl or two shriek.

"Jason, your arm!" Eddie pointed out as he slid his chair as far away from me as possible.

I opened my eyes to see my right arm was completely engulfed in flames. From the corner of my eye, I could see my teacher reaching for the fire extinguisher that was in the room in case there was some emergency. I stared at my arm in fear and started to freak out. I jerked my arm like some cartoon character as I tried to get the fire off me. It got off me and landed on to Paige (Can that day get any worse?!) and her best friend who was sitting next to her.

My teacher rushed over to put the fire out on my arm and my crush. As the smoke cleared, I got a good look at the faces my classmates had, faces that would be around for the rest of my life. The look of dread, of fear, of hate. Even Eddie, my friend since 5th grade had that look on his face.

"Eddie, I-" I tried moving toward him, but he got up from his seat and dashed over to the other end of the room where the windows were at so he can hop out if shit hits the fan.

I looked at the others once again. "Guys..." I said rather sadly as I began to grow nervous. They all moved their chairs as far away from me as possible. It was then, that I knew, that I was a mutant... It was then that I knew I would be feared for the rest of my life.

I didn't wish for it. I didn't pray to God to bestow me with the powers I have. God decided to give me these powers. What he gave me was a gift and a curse. Something mostly all of my kind know about.

"Jason, you need to get out." My teacher finally spoke up, equally as scared as his students.

"W-what?" Of all the things he's ever said to me, that was the one statement I couldn't comprehend.

"For the safety of us all, you need to get out of this school." He clarified. He didn't say it in a mean way if that's what you're thinking. He was genuinely concerned for his students.

Though his tone was somewhat calm, something within me just snapped. I was too emotional. I was too nervous and just mad. Mad that it had to happen like that. By complete accident, because I had no control over my powers, fire started bursting out of my body and onto the clothes of my fellow classmates. Onto the shiny brown rectangular tables and the random skeleton body in the front of the room. Onto one of my favorite teachers. Seeing the chaos I caused, I ran out of the room, not wanting to harm anymore people. As I ran, the fire continued to burst out of me unbeknownst to me. I didn't feel a thing. The burning sensation, the sharp pain. All of it gone. Now my powers were just out of control because of my emotions.

I finally got out of the school and continued to run for my dear life, as if the fire was going to burn me next. After making it across the street and in between two buildings inside of a alley, I turned around and saw the destruction I created. I watched as my school was on fire, the people within struggling to come out. My eyes were as wide as they could be as I watched in terror. I looked at my hands, completely normal now. I had the power to burn buildings.

Sirens from the local police, fire trucks, and ambulances snapped me out of my wacky thoughts. I had to run. People inside of that school knew who started the fire. There was no way of explaining it to anybody. They would call me a mutant, say I willingly caused that mayhem at school with a giant smile on my face and send me to jail. Maybe I was over exaggerating, but I couldn't take any chances. I was too young to go to jail. I didn't have what it took to survive in that place. I swiftly turned around and booked. I couldn't run home because that was the first place they would check. As I ran, I just wondered how my parents would take this. Hearing that their little boy was a mutant menace, burning down buildings and such.

I had been walking around for a hour, occasionally running away whenever I heard sirens. I didn't want to take any chances. I was in a junkyard hiding out. Having crushed cars around me was slightly comforting for some reason. The good thing about it was that the guy who ran the place was on his 1:00 lunch break. I sat on a crushed car with my arms hugging my knees, wondering what I was going to do next. That was when I met the X-Men for the first time.

Now, I've seen them on TV a couple of times and read some newspaper articles about them. Some say they were as bad as Magneto, which is kind of a joke. Others say that they have the interests of both humans and mutants in mind when conducting their missions. I like those other people. I respect what they do, I'm a fan of their work. But in the condition I was in when I first met them, I was in no mood to ask for autographs. I was more in the condition of wanting to shit my pants and pinch myself constantly to see if it was all a dream. The team they sent after me was Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Angel, and Beast. Now, they've had many costumes over the years, so I'll let you pick your poison when it comes to that. Other then that, I'm sure you know how they all look. And if you don't, there is this thing called Google that you can use... I'm sorry, that was kind of rude. But I'm sure you get the gist of it. If I could, I would have put a smiley face at the end of that last sentence. But this isn't a text message. This is the real thing. This is what I lived through.

"Jason Velasquez, we are the X-Men." Cyclops stated the obvious with the kind of confidence I wish I had.

You're probably wondering how they know my name. Well, my handsome (I'm not that handsome) little face was plastered all over the news. A brown skinned, brown eyed boy with black spiky hair set a school on fire. Of course that would make the news. And they just had to use one of my cheesy pictures from Facebook, too. The nerve of those people!

Where was I? Oh, yeah. "We're here to help you." Cyclops continued and I didn't believe him.

Here's why: I was scared shitless. My name and face was all over the news. Now, I knew the X-Men were the good guys, but I thought that they thought that I was the bad guy. That I set the school on fire for some sick, twisted reason. Probably to start some homework revolution or some shit like that. Yeah, F the establishment and all that jazz. Also, did I mention I was scared shitless? So, yeah, I was extremely paranoid that day. I thought everyone and their grandmas were against me.

So, after Cyclops informed me of his intentions, I automatically, without a single thought said, "No!" I remember crawling off the car like some toddler trying to safely get off their parent's bed. I now stood in front of them and I said, "Stay away from me! I know you're here to turn me in. I don't want to go to jail!" Who does?

They noticed I put my hands up in defense. Heh, as if I stood a chance.

"Jason, we wish to help you. Not to fight you or do you any harm." Storm's pleasant tone would have relaxed me if I wasn't fueled with Adrenaline and Fear. Even her posture with her hand out for me to grab was nice. But I didn't give a shit.

She tried moving forward and I unknowingly blasted her with fire. I don't know how it happened, but it just came out of my hands. She used her power of weather manipulation to get a gust of wind to blow away the fire on her. Surprisingly, she didn't seem mad. I mean, it was a pretty weak attempt on my part. But, you know... Stuff.

I -and ya should have seen my face when nothing came out- tried to do what I just did to Storm by accident again. Yeah, it didn't work out so well.

Cyclops noticed I was trying to attack them... and fail. "Jason, we want to help you. Just please, end this now before things escalate."

Escalate, how? I asked myself. I didn't want to find out, so I turned around and started running away. They followed me as I ran around the maze that is a junkyard. They even managed to corner me. Cyclops, Jean and Angel were behind me while Storm and Beast stood in front of me. And I gotta say, for the record, that looking at Beast for the first time scared the crap out of me. He was so blue and so furry and his eyes were kind of weird looking. He looked like something you would cuddle with at night to fall asleep faster, but also something you didn't want to wake up next too in the morning.

They slowly, cautiously approached me, not wanting to hurt me, but I couldn't register that at the moment. I wasn't thinking rationally. All my mind was telling me was for me to run. They got closer, so I had to do something! I closed my eyes and waved my arms around like a mad man, hoping that would help. I prayed to the All-Mighty one that when I opened my eyes, things would be better. And they were! Some way, somehow, I managed to create a ring of fire that trapped the two separate groups. That allowed me to run out of the junkyard and towards my parents house. Because all I wanted at that moment was to see my parents.

Just as some children who got into trouble, I wanted to go to my parents. Not because I was a baby. Not because I was some wimp. I went to them because they were reliable. Because they were a constant in my life. I loved my parents and they loved me. They may have been hard on me, but they shaped me into the man I am today. They taught me values. They taught me that Honesty, Respect, Kindness, Cooperation and Generosity was essential. They taught me to respect those that show respect. To be kind to anyone, anywhere. That being honest was the best policy and would get you somewhere in life. Their values, which was past down to them by their parents, is something I hold close to my heart. Especially after that day...

I ran and I ran, knowing the X-Men were close behind. From the shadows formed on the sidewalk in front of me, I could see that the X-Men capable of flying were high above me, keeping a watchful eye on me, making sure to not lose me. I knew I wasn't going to escape them. But, I just had to see my parents one last time before the X-Men send me to jail. My house wasn't that far from the Junkyard. It was practically on the border between Los Angeles and Compton. That meant that my house wasn't that fancy. My father was a construction worker and my mother was a maid. So you know the house wasn't that great, but it was my home. My sanctuary.

I ran to the front door of my small two-story home with my keys in my hand. I tried to rush in and much to my dismay, my keys dropped onto my front porch. I scrambled to pick them up and now all of the X-Men were behind me. I ignored them and finally entered my house.

"Mom, Dad?!" I called out, hoping to hear them debating about what to cook for dinner or about some Spanish TV show they liked to watch together. But it was complete and utter silence.

At least the X-Men were kind enough to leave me be for a couple of minutes. I instantly ran up the stairs to see if they were in their bedroom, but they weren't. I went back down the stairs, sweat trickling down my face, my hands shaking in fear. When I needed them the most, they weren't there. I didn't bother checking the living room, but to this day, I regret ever going into that room.

I entered the room, the back of my father's recliner facing me. On the arm rest laid a familiar hairy brown arm. I thought to myself a rather idiotic idea. Maybe my father was asleep on the recliner, like he usually was after work. Sure, he was a heavy sleeper, but because I used to cry a lot when I was a baby, he always woke up whenever he heard my voice. He wasn't waking up now. I began to pant, tired because of the events that occurred that day, but also because adrenaline pumped through my veins as my fear began to kick in once again. I slowly walked toward the side of my father's recliner, hoping the scenario that was playing through my head wasn't true. Unfortunately, it was. My father was laid out on the recliner with his eyes and mouth open and a bullet lodged into his forehead. I took a step back, covered my mouth and began to cry. Because next to him, on our little sofa, was my mother in the same position as him. Both of them... shot in the head. No respect for their bodies whatsoever.

When I began to cry, as loud as I ever had before, the X-Men entered my house to see what was wrong. Tears fell down my cheek, my eyes red and puffy. My head hurting, unable to comprehend what I saw with my eyes. The burning sensation returned, but I ignored it. I was too preoccupied with the fact that my parents were dead. They were innocent people! Hard-working people! And somebody just walked into my house, posing as cops and just... just... killed my parents. Because I was a mutant! My powers were the reason why my parents died! Of course, I wouldn't find that out until later on. I wouldn't find out who did it or why until later.

"Dear God." Jean Grey commented as soon as the X-Men entered my living room and saw what I wished wasn't real. My dead parents.

"Poor boy." Beast added sympathetically. The X-Men had seen people die, but to see someone grieving in front of them with the dead bodies in front of them was something they hadn't gotten used too.

I finally stopped crying, but still full of powerful emotions. My back was facing the X-Men, my head down, my eyes staring at the ground, making sure to not make eye contact with my dead parents.

"Th-they were innocent people..." I finally spoke, my voice low.

"Jason... We will find who did this. I promise." Cyclops stated. I didn't know whether to believe him or not. But I wasn't really paying attention to him. I was still in shock.

"They were innocent people!" I roared loud enough for the neighborhood to hear as both of my arms were engulfed in flames.

"Jason, calm down!" Storm pleaded, but I ignored.

All I remember was roaring as my body was on fire in the inside. Then I blacked out. From what I heard, I exploded. I destroyed my house and burned my already dead parents. Jean had protected her teammates using her telekinetic powers, but my explosion overwhelmed her. They were thrown back, but weren't in as much danger or pain as they would have been hadn't Jean protected them. After getting back up, checking for any injuries, and dusting their leather costumes off, they looked for my body and checked to see if I was still alive. There was some debris on top of me, but nothing enough to kill me. My powers made sure to not kill me so easily. As if I still wanted to live after everything that transpired that day.

I woke up several hours later in the med bay inside of the X Mansion. I opened my eyes slowly, but the bright light directly above me blinded my eyes, making it hard for me to see anything. I quickly shut my eyes and put my hand above my face to shield me from the light. I opened my eyes once again and they slowly began to readjust. Still on a metal bed with minimal cushion, I began to look around the room. My bed was placed against a wall in the middle of the room. To my right were medical cabinets and to my left, to my surprise, was Professor X. The light from above reflected on Professor Xavier's shiny bald head. To be honest, it nearly blinded me.

"Where am I?" I inquired as I continued to examine my new surroundings.

"Greetings, my name is Professor Charles Xavier. Welcome to The Xavier Institute For Gifted Youngsters." Professor X greeted with his soothingly calm voice that could make a rampaging elephant relax.

I lowered my head into my hand as my head began to ache for the hundredth time that day.

"Please tell me this is all a dream." I replied with a shaky voice.

"I'm afraid not." I turned to look at him and there was a frown on his face. "I'm sorry for your loss..."

Him saying that triggered something within me. I began to weep for my loss, my powers, due to my emotions, began to go out of control once again. I looked, once again, in fear as my arms started to flame on. Just like what happened before the explosion. Professor X grew nervous, I knew it. He didn't want to get blown up.

He placed his hand on my head and said, "Jason, relax. Calm yourself. Do not let your emotions get the best of you."

Professor X offered his advice, but I didn't take it. However, my body and my mind began to relax. His power to enter my mind and even command me allowed him to calm me down. I'm grateful I didn't blow up that day. But, after calming down, all I could do was sob at the thought of my dead parents.

I'm Jason Velasquez... And I'm a mutant...

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In the next issue of X-Men: New Mutants...

Jason must move past the events that unfold in this chapter. But that's easier said than done. Jason must grow accustomed to his new life at the mansion and as a mutant. He's given a test by Wolverine. Will he rise to the challenge? Tune-In and find out.


	2. Issue 2: Training Day

Author's Note: Hey guys I'm back to deliver another chapter of this story. I wanted to update it by last week, but college kinda got in the way. So, I'm bringing it to ya today. This chapter is way longer than I wanted it to be. I came into this story telling myself that I wanted to keep the chapters somewhat short and I've already fail that. Hopefully this will be the last time you see such a long ass chapter lol. Unless you guys like long chapters. But I'm not exactly trying to make them long. I don't know what happened with this chapter. I probably just had too much planned or my writing just went too far. Either way, the new chapter is here. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favorited. Your support is greatly appreciated and I hope you guys continue to read my story. So, thanks for being awesome and don't be afraid to leave a review :)

Also, I want you guys to know that there is a new OC in this chapter who will be apart of the team with Jason. I hope you guys enjoy her as much as I do. She's pretty cool and was the first character I created for this story. Like I said in the previous chapter, I wont be overdoing it with OC's in this story. The next OC will show up a couple of chapters from now. So, yeah lol. Also, for Jason's power... Don't believe that starting fires is all he's capable of doing. His powers will evolve as the story progresses.

So... Yeah... That's all I have to say. Enjoy the story! :)

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Issue 2: Training Day

I'm Jason Velasquez and I'm...

You've already heard me say it. I'm a mutant. I found out I was a mutant at school. Nearly burned down my school and I... I killed and burned so many people. Some I called friends, some deserved it, but none of them I wanted to hurt. I ran away from the school, from the authorities looking for a male Mexican arsonist and the X-Men. The X-Men eventually caught up with me at a local Junkyard near my home in Los Angeles/Compton. I set Storm on fire and attempted to try again. Yeah, it didn't work. I ran away from them once that failed. I did a lot of running that day. They had me cornered and I somehow generated two rings of fire around the two separate groups of X-Men members. That bought me enough time to run to my home. My sanctuary. When I got there... I saw some things that I shouldn't have. Something no child should ever see. Their parents... laid out in such a disrespectful manner. They were dead and it was all because of me. Because of my powers. Powers I couldn't even control. I showed my lack of control to the X-Men by blowing up my home. My former sanctuary. I woke up in a medical facility and was greeted by none other than the man himself, Professor Charles Xavier.

That's the story so far...

The good professor watched me cry my eyes out for a minute or two. He didn't like that I was crying. Not because he was a jerk, but because he didn't like seeing his students, whether they were new or old, crying or being brought down.

He placed his hand on my back, "Jason, I'm sorry for all that you've endured today, but I assure you, it does get better. This power you have within you, this gift you have within you is a calling. It may seem like a curse now, but I think you'll grow to love them. In fact, I believe, without a doubt, that you'll put the suffering you endured from today behind you and become stronger because of it."

His words were encouraging and his soothing tone made me feel better. I exhaled sharply and wiped the tears from my eyes and cheeks.

I looked at him, my eyes still watery. His sympathetic gaze told me he was being sincere. Not just buttering me up to join him and his motley crew.

"I want you to rest, Jason. You deserve it after all that you've been through today. Tomorrow, we'll discuss whether you want to stay here permanently or not. The choice is entirely yours. If you decide to not stay, I'll be more than happy to locate any family members you wish to stay with and I'll personally escort you to their residence." He removed his hand from my back and offered a small smile. "Is that alright with you?"

I nodded in agreement. I didn't have what it took to make a decision as to whether I wanted to stay there or not. My head definitely wasn't in a right place for that. I was in a dark place. As anyone who lost one or both of their parents would be.

"What time is it?" I asked, sounding like a whisper.

"11:00 at night."

"I-I've been out for 10 hours?"

"Not exactly. We're in the East Coast now."

"So I've been out for 7 hours."

"Correct."

"Woah." I said in utter disbelief. I looked at him curiously. "And you expect me to get rest after being unconscious for 7 hours?" It was a bit sassy, so I had to apologize because of the way I said it. "Sorry..."

"It's okay, Jason. You've been through a lot today. You would be surprised how tired you can become after a day such as this. Despite having rested for a prolonged time."

Before anything else could be said, the door at the other end of the room slid open and it was the first time I noticed the X on the door. It wouldn't be the last time I see X's around the mansion. Storm, in her civilian attire, which was a black sleeveless dress shirt and grey dress pants, entered the infirmary and walked toward the Professor and myself.

"Good to see you finally woke up." She greeted with half a smile. I wondered at the back of my mind whether she was mad I kind-of-sort-of burned her.

"Yeah," I replied, "sorry about burning you earlier. I was just emotional and-"

"Don't dwell on it. It happens to the best of us sometimes. Still happens to me and I've been around for quite a while."

I thought about her statement and remembered what the professor mentioned earlier about things eventually getting better. Maybe he was right. But that didn't mean I was going to easily forget everything that transpired that day. I still think about it to this day and it's been quite a while since that day occurred. But, it gave me a glimmer of hope. That perhaps, through all of the darkness, through all of the suffering that day, there was a small chance of light brightening the darkness one day. I was optimistic just for that moment. But I knew it wasn't going to be easy. I knew it was going to be a long journey and that the road laid out in front of me was going to have its twists and turns. I just had to steer in the right direction and make the right decisions. At least, that's what I hope I'd do. But, like with all things, there is change.

"Jason, this is Ororo Munroe, Headmistress along with myself and Cyclops. She also teaches World History for all within the school."

She held her hand out for me to shake. "Um, nice to be formally introduced." I said rather awkwardly, not really sure what I should do. But, I did shake her hand as a sign of respect.

"Likewise." She replied.

"Now, Ororo, please escort the boy to his room." He looked at me. "Get some rest, Jason. We'll talk tomorrow."

I climbed off the hospital bed and looked at the professor. "Thank you, professor."

The professor offered a smile before I left the infirmary, following closely behind Storm as she escorted me out of the room. As we walked the hallways in the basement level of the mansion, we were in utter silence. Storm knew when to talk and when not too. She knew I was in pain in the inside. She didn't try to cheer me up and I didn't blame her for it. Sometimes people gotta deal with problems by themselves.

The basement was rather blue and extremely illuminated. The lights were kinda blinding at first, but I grew used to them after a while. While walking, Storm pointed out what the other rooms were in the basement. She showed me, behind the various X doors that would slide open, where the Danger Room (Didn't sound attractive at all), Hangar (In the basement? Like, what the hell? How does that work?), and the Infirmary, where I previously was. But, what I found most intriguing was the fact that at the end of the hall, near the elevators, there was a room that Storm said that only Professor X and select members of the X-Men could enter. I wasn't really in the mood to press her for answers, so I let it be for that moment.

We were quiet on the elevator ride up. There wasn't much to say to each other. Once we got above ground, Storm departed from the elevator and led me through the mansion toward where the rooms where the students resided. We past about 2 different living rooms, two kitchens and at least one recreational room where pool tables, air hockey and other stuff were within. The mansion's interior kinda looked outdated, but it had this fancy touch to it. Clean wooden floors with some chandelier overhead or some other form of light above us as we walked through different areas of the mansion. Things looked new, but was retro in style. Kinda what you would expect from a mansion owned by a rich man. How did Professor Xavier make that money anyways? Enough to support the X-Men and dozens of teenagers. I knew the government had no hand in it.

After the somewhat tour of the humongous mansion I would spend the night in, she finally came to a halt in front of one of the many doors that lined up in the hallway we stood in where the children resided.

"This is your room." She proclaimed while I looked at the door in front of me.

"Thanks for the semi-tour." I said after turning myself to glance at her.

"No problem. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." She smiled, I nodded. Before I knew it, she was walking away from me, leaving me there to see what was on the other side of the door.

I reached my hand out to grab the doorknob and quickly retreated after feeling how freezing cold it was. It was as if I was touching a liquid nitrogen tank. I used the end of my shirt to wrap my hand around, hoping that would work. I quickly turned the doorknob and entered my new room. As soon as I opened the door, there was a bed directly in front of me. I didn't notice how small the room was until later on. The bed was made and one fluffy pillow awaited the presence of my aching head.

I sat on my new bed and it creaked, the bed was neither soft or hard, new or old. It was just there. My butt didn't find it that comfortable at first, but I slowly got used to it. I kicked my sneakers off and rested my legs and feet on the bed while my head was supported by the soft pillow under it. I stared up at the ceiling with my hands resting on my chest, not really able to sleep or even close my eyes. Each time I did, vivid images of my dead parents would appear. That and the memory of what occurred at my school tortured me. Their frightened looks, the look of my friend Eddie when he saw I was on fire, my parents... mouths wide open and lifeless eyes staring at the ceiling. As much as I hated to do it, I started crying for the hundredth time that day. It wasn't a sob or loud crying or anything like that. It was low at first, but as things began to hit me, those images becoming more and more powerful, my memory of my parents and the few moments we had that morning before I left for school, my crying got louder. So loud in fact, it awakened the roommate I didn't even know existed until he spoke up.

"Who is that?" Someone on the other side of the room asked groggily, still half-asleep. "I'm tryna sleep here." He whispered.

"I'm sorry." I apologized and quickly hopped off my bed. I struggled to get my sneakers on, but when I finally did, I dashed out of the room slightly embarrassed.

I power walked through the hallway and entered the first living room I saw. I didn't even know that kid was in there until he said something. That just showed how messed up I was. I wasn't even aware of my surroundings. Something I was a pro at because you never know who might roll up on you where I lived. You always had to be aware. You couldn't drop your guard or else you would get dropped. Kinda like what happened to my parents, I guess.

I began to think about them as I sat at a window seat, looking up at the clear skies to see dozens of stars. My mother was from Mexico where she met my father who came from Venezuela. They met while they were in their mid-twenties, after my mom had a daughter with another dude. My would be sister didn't last that long. She died shortly after my mom gave birth to her. My mom was devastated and that dude couldn't look at her the same way again. Long after they broke up, my father appeared. My father was looking to get out of Venezuela since the day he was born. He didn't love his home country as much as others might have. He always wanted to travel across the world. First, he started with South America, then, maybe, he would go to North America to see his sister and her kids. She was in Canada though and he would never be able to see her. Only on the holidays though. His plan was to move up to Canada to be near her, but my mother kinda changed that. They settled in the U.S after about two years together in Mexico, Peru and Costa Rica. When my mom got pregnant with me, they moved up across the border to live the American Dream. Whatever that means, I guess. They wanted me to have a better life than them, so they moved to Cali, where a majority of their people head to. 2 immigrants made a mutant. The government and the press would have a field day with that subject. Then again, I'm not the only one like that, I suppose. Many of our stories are different, but some are familiar. Mutants have more in common then they may know.

As I was thinking about my parents and star gazing, someone walked over to me as slow as they possibly could because they were still sleepy. When I caught the movement from the corner of my eye, I turned my head to see a light-skinned boy with dirty blonde short hair that looked a little bit brownish to me. He yawned rather loudly while he stretched himself out. His shoulders were slightly slouched and his eyes looked like they were closed or he was squinting at me. I really couldn't tell.

"Hey." He greeted. I wasn't quite sure if he was awake or not or if he was looking at me or the field of grass on the other side of the window I was looking out from.

"Hey." I responded, recognizing the voice to be the boy I woke up.

"I asked for your name and you kinda just ran. That's kinda rude, you know."

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"Long day?" He asked, his eyes more open now to reveal his hazel eyes.

"Yeah..." I replied, the look and sound of sadness was out there.

"Yeah," He surprisingly sat down next to me at the window seat meant for two, "we have a lot of those." He rubbed his eyes for a second and tiredly exhaled. "You're new, huh?" I nodded. "Well, what's your name?"

"Jason."

He put his hand out and I shook it. "Bobby." He scanned my face and instantly recognized who I was. "Wait, you're that boy from Cali, right? The one that burned down the school?"

"Not exactly a highlight of my life..."

He noticed I took offense to that and his face softened. "Oh, right, sorry about that. That was kinda rude."

"Now we're even, I guess."

The next couple of seconds was silent, making the whole thing awkward. "So your power is fire, huh?"

"Apparently. Oh, and big explosions." I replied, mimicking explosive sounds at the end to cement the idea. "Well, not exactly big." I clarified. I just blew up my house, not the neighborhood.

"Heh, that's funny." He smacked the side of his head in embarrassment. "Not the explosion part... Well, yeah, kinda the explosion part. I just meant-"

"I get your meaning." I interjected before he could embarrass himself further.

"Do you?" I gave him a look and he understood that I did. "I can create and manipulate ice."

"That explains why the room was cold."

He chuckled. "Yeah, sorry about that. When I'm sleeping, I kinda just air-condition the room I'm in."

"That'll come in handy during the summer."

"Thank god for that." The look on his face indicated to me that he just remembered something. "Oh, and I can make a armor of ice."

"Really?"

He nodded enthusiastically and got up from his seat. He jumped for no apparent reason and his whole body was encased in ice, a wide grin on his face for his achievement. Since he now stood straight, I noticed that we were about the same height. Which was cool and everything, but I was a bit distracted by how cold I was. Every time I breathed, smoke would come out of my nose or mouth. I began to shiver and he noticed how uncomfortable I was. It took him a while, but he powered down and the chill was still in the room, but not as much as before.

He sat back down and looked at me cover myself up 'cause it was cold. "You can't control your powers?" I gave him a blank stare and he caught on. "Right, cause you just found out you had powers and burned your school down."

"The more you mention it, the more it hurts."

He cringed. "Right, so sorry about that."

Though the boy was about the same age as me, maybe a year older, he acted younger than he looked. It wasn't bad or anything, but it wasn't exactly good.

"It's gonna get better, you know."

I raised my eyebrow at him, not fully comprehending his statement. "What is?"

"Your whole situation. It's always bad at first, but you spend some time here and you kinda get used to it, learn to embrace it, etc etc. You'll never forget what you experienced or how people looked at you, but you use that to motivate you. To prove those people wrong. That not all mutants are like Magneto and his Brotherhood, you know?"

And just like that, he acted his age. Bobby was a interesting dude. To this day I'm glad he was my roommate and friend.

"You're gonna learn how to control your powers and get on the team." He stated with a charming smile.

That only confused me. "What team?"

Before he could even answer me, someone walked into the room. He had a cowboy hat on with a red and black flannel short rolled to reveal his furry arms. His shirt wasn't buttoned up, revealing a white tank-top underneath. He had blue jeans on that looked like something Brett Favre would advertise on one of those Jean commercials with brown boots on.

"Ain't you kids suppose to be asleep?" He asked. He was a inch or two shorter than us.

"Uh, yeah Mr. Logan, sorry about that." Bobby pointed at me. "Jason is new here and-"

This Mr. Logan guy observed me from the entrance of the living room. "You're the kid that Jeannie picked up?"

Once again, the look of confusion was all over my face, which was a funny look according to Bobby. "Who?"

Bobby leaned in next to my ear to whisper, "He means Jean Grey."

"Oh!" I finally acknowledged. "Yeah."

He continued to look at me for another second before saying, "You kids get back to your rooms. You gotta long day ahead of you tomorrow."

I was about to ask what he meant, but Bobby rushed me out of the room after saying his goodbyes to Mr. Logan.

"What did he mean?" I asked while we walked through the hallway to get to our room.

"The Danger Room."

"What's that?" I asked. When Storm showed me where it was at, she didn't exactly go into details as to what it was meant for.

He laughed, but not loud enough to wake anyone else. "Oh, it's best to leave it a mystery until you see it with your very eyes." He slapped my back. "It's going to be amusing, my friend."

Bobby's comment didn't exactly help the uneasy feeling I had. "The Danger Room." I repeated to myself. "Doesn't even sound attractive." That made Bobby laugh some more, as if the joke was on me.

The next day, I was sitting in Professor Xavier's room while the other kids were having breakfast. I was extremely tired, unable to get sleep the other night and Professor Xavier decided to wake me up extremely early in the morning with a telepathic wake-up call. Let's just say, it wasn't exactly pleasant. Then again, neither was the dream I had.

"So, have you come to a decision?" He asked, snapping me out of my moment of sleep since he had me sitting there while he went over a file that came across his desk a minute before I entered his office.

The decor in his room was mostly the same as everything else I've seen in the mansion. He had a bookshelf occupied by dozens of books ranging from different topics. His desk looked nice and fairly expensive and there was even a computer monitor on top of it with the rest of his desk and the room now that I think of it, looked pretty neat.

I shifted in my seat, not because I was uncomfortable with the question, but because I was uncomfortable sitting on the chair he had. Probably because I missed the bed I was on about ten minutes before.

"I mean, I don't really have a choice. They are still looking for me out there. They know I'm a mutant, so the FBI must be involved in some way. That means they'll be watching over any family member that lives in the States. The closest relative I have is in Canada, but I don't want my Aunt and cousins getting into trouble. Not like..."

"Your parents."

I looked away, trying to calm myself down. I had to stop thinking about them. At least until I had a handle on my powers because I felt something boiling within me.

"It's okay Jason, it won't happen here. I won't allow it." He said gently.

I didn't know if he was in my head or if he got signals off my body language, which showed I was in a little bit of pain and uncomfortable.

Once he saw that my pain subsided, he said, "Jason, you always have a choice in your life. I commend your thoughts for your distant family, but if you don't want to be here, you don't have to be. Your family can be protected. I have friends who can help with that."

I shook my head. "I know you mean well Professor, but I don't want to take that kind of risk. Besides, I'm a mutant now. I can't exactly ignore what I have or what happened. I want to at least learn how to control my powers so that what happened before never happens again. Maybe I'll want to do more once I learn how to control my... gifts."

He smiled when he heard me say gifts instead of curse. I had to remain positive and level-headed if I wanted to get anywhere in my life. Of course it wouldn't be easy, but I had try.

"I'm glad you said that. Just know, while you're here, you'll have a family and friends that will be there to support you. Think of us as a extended family."

I offered a small smile and he returned with one of his own. "Thank you for all that you have done, Professor. I'll never forget this."

"I only seek to help those that need help. Whether they are mutants or humans. We are all the same, whether people like it or not."

Wise words, but before I could even say anything, someone entered the room. I had to turn my body to see who was behind me. A girl several inches shorter than me stood at the entrance of the room. She had black hair that reached a little bit farther than her shoulders which matched her black almond shaped eyes. Her fair skin tone accommodated her look, but her body was somewhat fragile. She had some meat on her bones, but not enough to standout. With her height, it made her seem easy to hurt. Her clothing is what stood out to me as she wore jeans that were a little bit too big for her and a jersey that seem to fit just right, but was a little bit loose. Her overall look looked as if she was tomboyish. But, there was nothing wrong with that. What I would soon find out is, she would be the best friend I never really had.

She looked at me for a moment and then at the Professor. "You wanted me?" I guessed correctly in thinking that while the Professor and I were talking, he communicated telepathically with the girl.

"Yes, thank you for coming." He greeted. He looked at me and gestured toward the girl. "Jason, this is Ashley Powers. She'll be showing you around the mansion and helping you out with whatever you need."

I looked back at her and she smiled at me, waving her hand once as a greeting. "Hey."

"Hey." I returned, getting up from my seat knowing the Professor had other business to attend to.

"I'll see you later, Jason." The Professor said his goodbye before I left the room.

I closed the door behind me, Ashley waiting patiently for me to catch up to her. Once I did, I interrupted her before she even began. "I don't really need a tour. I mean, Storm showed me around."

She stopped in her tracks, a few students walked past us in the process. She looked at me curiously, an amusing look on her face. "Oh, you think you've seen the whole mansion? That's cute. Nope, sorry. There is way more to this building then they advertise. Not that they actually advertise it, now that I think about it."

"I'm telling you-"

"So where is World History 101? Where is Chemistry 11? Do you know where pre-calculus is at?" She acknowledged the dumbfounded look on my face and nodded knowingly. "Thought so."

Alright, she got me. "I'm sorry." I apologized for my short-sightedness.

"It's cool." She smirked. "Mind showing me where the cafeteria is?"

I stared at her in disbelief. "Are you done?"

She chuckled and walked away while I followed closely behind her. "Nah, just started having fun."

We walked for a minute or two while Ashley showed me rooms I've already seen while I was on my way to the Professor's office. There was a huge library, a arcade room, a bunch of bathrooms (makes sense when you have a bunch of teens living there) and finally the cafeteria. We entered the room filled with long tables that allowed students to sit and eat. It seemed like school, but more nicer looking. At least, compared to my school. Ashley caught me staring at the scenery and pushed me toward the breakfast line. I glared at her and she gave me a innocent smile, gesturing for me to move along 'cause I was holding up the line.

Once we got our food, she directed me toward a table to sit at. She sat in front of me and started digging into her breakfast while I looked past her and saw Bobby sitting with two girls, one blonde and the other had brown hair. He saw me and greeted me with a two finger salute while I gave him a nod.

"So, you know Bobby, huh?" It was as if she had eyes behind her head. I wondered if that was her power. She saw the weird look on my face and shook her head. "I saw him on our way over here."

"Yeah," I finally answered, "he's my roommate."

"Aww, that's cute." She responded flatly.

"Is everything cute to you?"

"Nope." And she left it at that.

I stabbed the sausage on my plate and devoured it with ease. It was much better than what McDonald's served.

"Who are the two girls with Bobby?" I asked after munching on some scrambled eggs.

"They caught your fancy, huh?"

I wondered if she was always that weird. Not that there was anything wrong with that. I just wasn't accustomed to weird people. I didn't really socialize with them all that much in High School.

"Um, no."

"Liar."

I watched her chow down on some bacon and toast. She caught me looking and raised a eyebrow. "What?"

"Are you going to tell me or not?"

She sighed, as if it was a tedious task. "The brunette is Kitty and the blonde is Illyana. They're apart of my team." She pointed to the both of us. "Our team."

"So why aren't we sitting over there with them? And what's this about teams?"

"To answer your first question: 'cause I don't feel like it. Not because I don't like them, I actually adore them. It's just that I'm supposed to show you around and you're kinda my responsibility. Knowing Bobby, he would have you do something else than what I have planned. So, I'm trying to stick with what the Professor instructed me to do."

"For your second question: we are the next group of teenagers in line to become X-Men." She saw that my eyes lit up. "Don't get your hopes up. We won't be fighting Magneto and his Brotherhood anytime soon. Since we're a bunch of teenagers, Professor X is worried about our safety. Meaning, we'll be doing the little stuff. Like children in wells or cats on trees." She saw the disappointment on my face and laughed to herself. "I'm just kidding. You're so gullible." She saw my face contort into annoyance. "But we will be doing minor missions. Like helping the cops with robberies or something."

"Cops like us here?"

"They didn't at first, but they grew to love us... sort of. Believe it or not, not every human is ignorant." I chuckled to myself and she found it odd. "What's funny?"

"I considered myself human yesterday morning. Now look at me," I gestured to the cafeteria filled with teenage mutants and a couple of instructors. Some I recognized from yesterday, others I saw on TV, and a couple I never saw before. "I'm dining with mutants." She frowned for some reason. "Not that I have a problem with it. I've always loved mutants. Just never saw myself turning into one."

Her frown went away before she finished her breakfast before me. She was a fast eater. "I was in your shoes exactly one week ago."

Confused, I asked, "Wait, you've only been here a week?"

"Mmhmm."

"So why are you showing me around? You're just as new as I am."

"Haven't you been listening?" She drew me in close to whisper, "I've been here for a week." She slapped my cheek twice and pushed my face away from her. "Are you deaf? Compared to you, I'm a vet. Besides, Professor X chose me because I've been here for a week, so I can relate to you the most from our team."

"How so?"

"Well, Bobby and Kitty have been here for about a year and Illyana has been here for a couple of months now, but rumor has it that she's been here longer than Bobby and Kitty, though the two swore they've never seen her before a couple of months ago when she officially arrived."

"That's odd."

"Tell me about it." She got up from her seat and poured her remaining food into the garbage can next to our table. She walked back to the table and noticed I was done eating. "So, whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me."

After watching me pour the remaining contents on my tray into the garbage, Ashley led me outside of the cafeteria and back into the hallway.

"So, what's your power?"

She giggled to herself, as if it was a funny question. "Allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Ashley 'Random' Powers." She noticed the awkward look on my face, which looked pretty stupid according to her. "It's in the name." Her eyes lit up, "If I would have changed name into game, I would have just said the EA Sports slogan." She looked at me as if I was stupid, "You know, like Madden and-"

"Yeah, I got that." It took me a while, but I finally got it. "So... You have random powers?"

"Ding-ding-ding, we have a winner." She said with excitement.

"You're so weird."

She embraced it, "I know." Her eyes twitched comically. "You got a problem with that?"

I shook my head. "Not at all."

She smiled wide. "Good." We continued walking and she said, "But, yeah, my power is to have random powers. Does that make sense?"

"No."

"Thought so. Basically, if I concentrate hard enough, I can have a new power, but it's completely random. Like, my first time finding out I was a mutant, I had the power to create golden balls," she saw the amused expression on my face and laughed, "I kid you not. I was scared I was going to be stuck with that power for the rest of my life. I mean, they would just pop out of my body and bounce around the walls. It caused chaos in my English class. Some kids played with the balls, others got smacked in the face with them. I even remember some playing dodgeball." She cringed, as if she remembered the event. "Small room, so things weren't exactly safe."

I smiled, it was more lighthearted than my story. "Sounds like quite a story and day."

"It was. I live here in New York, so people aren't exactly that much against mutants as much as other places in the country. Most likely because the X-Men roll through when things get bad."

I didn't notice it at first, but there it was. She really had a New York accent. It wasn't as exaggerated as it's displayed on television or in movies. Probably why I didn't recognize it. The funny thing was, Ashley was Caucasian, but sounded as if she lived in the hood. I knew hood talk a little too well, and I just didn't see it in her,

She seemed to have noticed me thinking about it, as if it's brought up numerous times whenever she talks. "You're probably wondering about the accent. Yeah, I was born in Harlem. You know, where the Apollo is at. Also the hometown of the Harlem Globetrotters. Being a white girl in Harlem ain't exactly easy, I'll tell you that. Well, it wasn't easy, I guess. Since, you know, I no longer live there."

"How'd you get stuck there?"

"My mom couldn't exactly afford to live in the other parts of Manhattan... Or Brooklyn... Or Queens... Or Staten Island. New York is a expensive place to live in and on a waiter's salary at a diner, you don't exactly have options. It was either Harlem or the Bronx. She thought Harlem was safer." She laughed to herself, as if it was funny.

"What about your father?"

It was a touchy subject and I saw it on her face. I should have known based off what she had said. But I'm a curious guy, so I had to ask. I didn't exactly think before asking the question.

"He kinda ran out on us when I was a baby. Tired of my mother and her non-existent acting career. Probably tired of me crying and my baby needs."

It saddened me to see her sad because of my stupid, inappropriate question. "You can't blame yourself for that."

She nodded knowingly. "I know. But I won't really know that unless I find him and ask him about it." She shook her head, as if to shake off her frustrations. "Where was I before things got depressing?"

"Random powers."

She snapped her fingers. "Right. So Professor X found me the next day and had a talk with my mother. She was pretty cool with everything. Probably because it would get me out of the house and give her one less mouth to feed on her pathetic salary."

I frowned, there she goes again. "Ashley..."

"I know, I know. I just can't help but feel that way sometimes. It was hard for us and I know she's kinda relieved now that I'm no longer there. But I also know that she loves me and misses me." She cleared her throat. "As I was saying, I was kinda reluctant at first. I didn't want to leave my mother alone. She was kinda sad. She kept trying and trying, but she never got a acting gig. She basically trapped herself with that waiting job, never getting a full education because acting was her first priority at the time. She had me when she was young and she was just stuck with me. I guessed I ruined her life or something, so I felt as if I needed to make it up to her or something. I had just gotten a job at a grocery store so I can help her out. I know my pay was basically shit, but I wanted to help her. But, she changed my mind. She told me I owed her nothing. That she wanted me to live my life and not make the same mistakes she did. She wanted me to live out my dream, but get a better education in the process. Let's be honest, New York's educational system is shit compared to other states. So, she figured since the Professor had this big fancy school, that I can benefit from it and at the same time, learn how to control my powers and use them for good. So, with that, I ended up here. Though I didn't exactly see how gold balls can exactly help anyone unless you was leading a dodgeball class."

An interesting story for a interesting girl.

I tried to make light out of the situation, as any good-natured person would do. "So how relieved were you when you found out gold balls wasn't your real power?"

She laughed lightly. "Very. It was funny, Wolverine- I mean, Professor Logan, wanted me to show my powers to him and a couple of other students in the Danger Room. I was expecting gold balls to come out of my body, but instead I started glowing. So much so, they called me Dazzler for a moment, but that name was already taken. I blinded the kids and Professor Logan. Everyday afterwards, I would go into the Danger Room with new powers. The kids called me Random, because of my personality and most likely because of my powers. I didn't like it, I still don't. So, unfortunately, it stuck."

"There is nothing wrong with that name." I tried to cheer her up, but it failed.

"I don't like it. It means I'm inconsistent. One thing I want in my life and that I like is consistency. My powers also mean I'm a liability. I'm too random to predict. Meaning, in the battlefield, when shit hits the fan, I can have the most powerful power ever or the most useless power ever. Like growing gills. And I swear to you, I was called Goldfish for the whole day because I needed to stay in the pool until my powers left me. Do you know how cramped I was that day? How tired I was? It's ridiculous. They fed me fish food! And it tasted delicious!"

I tried to prevent it, but I just couldn't take it anymore. Her last two statements threw me over the edge. I erupted in laughter and she stood there, tongue in cheek with her arms folded, looking at me with the strongest glare possible, but I didn't care. It was too damn funny!

"Are you done?" She inquired, growing annoyed every second I laughed.

I continued for a few more moments and caught my breath. "Nah, just started having fun." I repeated what she said earlier and it only got her more mad at me, much to my amusement.

She continued to walk, farther and farther away from me. She was still mad at me, but as we passed the classrooms, she showed me what class belonged to the rooms and who taught those classes. She saw that I was enthusiastic about the whole thing and was glad.

"So you really dig mutants, huh?" She finally spoke after about 15 minutes of silence. Her talking to me about the classes and classrooms didn't count, apparently.

"Yeah, I mean, not all of them are bad. It's the way we're raised and where we were raised that make us into who we are. Combine that with what we must have gone through when we discovered we have powers and you can swing either way in the battle between good and evil. That's how I see it anyways. Besides, mutants are kinda like immigrants and African Americans before the civil rights movement. Nobody really wants them. And I can relate to that because of my experience. From what I saw my parents go through, from stories they've told me about when they first moved here. Mutants and African American's have similarities, besides the whole slave thing. I guess you can think of this as Mutants civil rights movement. Professor Xavier is like Martin Luther King and Magneto is like Malcolm X."

"Interesting." We started making our way away from the classrooms and we just walked and talked, as if she was waiting for a specific time to do something else she had planned. "Well, I've told you my story. What's yours?"

She saw the pain on my face and how reluctant I was to tell her what had just happened the day before. Before she could even try to take back her question, I told her. It was only fair that I share my story with her after hearing hers. It would also make up for my stupid question earlier. When I was done, we stopped walking and I looked at her confused. She hugged me to my surprise and I didn't really hug back. For a tomboy, she kinda acted like a girl. I guess she was in between.

She retreated and looked at my sad expression. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. I can't possibly imagine what you must be going through right now. If I was to lose my mother like you lost your parents... I wouldn't even be able to get out of bed or even talk to anybody. I mean, I'm strong, but I don't know if I can take that kinda pain, you know?" She put her hand on my arm. "I'm glad you're here and you're going along with this. I know it hurts now, but, hopefully, we can help you through this. You gotta move forward."

Her encouraging words along with what Professor Xavier and Storm had said the other day kinda got me in a better mood.

I offered her a small smile. "You know, you're pretty cool."

She smiled back. "Yeah, I know. I may have a blonde's name, but I'm totally cooler than them."

"So are we just going to walk forever?" I asked while looking at my surroundings, which looked pretty familiar now.

"Nope."

"So, what then?"

"Oh, I thought you knew the mansion like the back of your hand. Why don't you tell me where we're going. 'Cause, you know, you know where everything is. Right?" She replied rather sarcastically.

"Um, downstairs?"

"Ding-ding-ding."

"Why?" I asked, fearing I may have already known the answer but didn't want it to be true.

"Danger Room."

There it goes again, the most unattractive name ever. The most unattractive class ever, if it was even a class. If you would even consider it a class. It's like P.E to the extreme. Which is understandable if you want to become an X-Men, but still. Who names the training room the Danger Room? Why not just be simple and name it Training Room? But, no, it has to be all scary and shit. Like, what the hell?

I groaned. "Why?"

She chuckled. "Get used to it. Get used to training six hours a day, five days a week. You want to become an X-Man? Then this is the kinda sacrifice you gotta make, kid."

"Kid? We're the same age."

"Heh. Sorry, I was channeling my inner Wolverine."

"Wolverine teaches that class?"

" Well, I kinda just quoted him and I wouldn't necessarily call it teaching. He instructs... sort of."

"Wait, so this Professor Logan guy is Wolverine?"

She gave me a confused look. "Wait, you're just putting that together right now? I swear I mentioned this earlier."

"Yeah, I kinda looked past that."

She patted my back sympathetically and pushed me into the elevator that just opened in front of us. She moved into the elevator and pressed the button that would lead us to the basement.

"How are you so strong? You're like 5'2 and 100 pounds." I was kinda exaggerating on the weight, but I wanted to make a point.

"And you're like 5'5 and excuse me, have you seen a mirror? You're not exactly ripped, my friend."

"I'm 5'8." I mumbled, but she ignored it.

I gotta say, I felt pretty weird wearing the mandatory X-men leather costume. After we got off the elevator, I tried following Ashley, but she pushed me away, pointing out that where she was going was the girl's changing room and that my room was on the other side. She then went on to call me a perv, leaving me to walk away in shame. Once there, I found a locker room, a locker for each participant in the Danger Room or official X-Men missions. The lockers for members went alphabetically by last name. I believe mine was the second to last locker, next to a dude name Warren Worthington the Third. Sounds snobby and rich. I didn't like it. I had a lock on my locker, but it was open. Good thing it wasn't my High School, or else my things would have been missing. On my locker was a note telling me good luck ('Cause imma need it in the freaking Danger Room) and it also held the combination to my lock. I opened the locker door to find a costume displayed nicely within. Apparently it was mandatory that I wear it. Because if I was to become an X-man, I would have to represent. Also, apparently, it seemed as if the suit was custom made for me because the last time I used my powers, I burned my clothes off. So, to avoid an embarrassing moment in the danger room or on a real-life mission, they gave me this costume.

It surprised me how fast they made it, considering I just became a mutant the other day. Were they always that prepared for things? Did they anticipate that one day they'll have a firestarter such as myself? Either way, I had to wear the thing. It was somewhat tight, but was perfectly fitted. I could maneuver in it pretty well. Later on that day, I would ask the creator of the costume, Professor McCoy, how exactly it worked. He told me that there were molecules within the costume that made it a perfect fit for anyone that wears it. He specifically made mines fire-proof and I appreciated it.

After getting my costume on, I didn't know where to go next. I just walked around the locker room wondering where the exit was to the Danger Room. After wondering what took me so long, Professor Logan sent in Bobby to get me. He came in from a door I hadn't even seen and probably overlooked. Let's just say I felt really stupid at that moment. Bobby got me, laughed at me for being lost (Even though I was the new kid) and guided me to the 'arena' as he called it. It was a wide open space, as big as a football field with a large hanging platform high above us on the other side of the room so that the Professors could observe us. In the middle of the room was Professor Logan and my would-be teammates.

"'Bout time you got here, kid." Wolverine (as he wanted us to call him while in costume) greeted with his hoarsely voice which sounded like he smoked too much.

I chuckled nervously while Kitty, Illyana, Ashley, and Bobby (After he got back on the line with me at the end) looked at me. "Yeah, sorry about that. New guy problems."

"Don't let it happen again." Wolverine warned.

"Yes, sir."

He stared at me for a moment or two, and then back at the rest of my little group.

"So who wants to get the ball rolling for the new kid?" He asked my group.

Bobby proudly stepped up first, being the most experienced one with powers in our group. He donned his ice armor and had a ice beam shoot out of his hand and nearly freeze Wolverine's overly hairy arm, much to Wolverine's dismay. Bobby retreated back to the line and offered his apology to the growling gentleman.

Kitty stepped up next before whispering something into Illyana's ear. Kitty looked to be a year younger than myself with Bobby being the oldest among us. She was taller than Ashley by at least 2 inches and shorter than Illyana by one. To my surprise, Illyana threw a punch at Kitty and it went through Kitty's head. It seriously blew my mind and for a minute, I thought Kitty was a ghost of some kind. Except she wasn't floating, so that didn't make sense.

Next up was Illyana, a beautiful Russian blonde with gorgeous eyes. At least to me she was. Anyways, she had a white sword appear in her hand out of nowhere and she made a pushing motion with her left hand, a fireball coming out of the palm of her hand and landing on the ice left over from Bobby's demonstration. While Bobby's ice melted, I was told by Bobby via whisper that Illyana had more up her sleeve, which made me more curious.

Now it was down to Ashley and myself, neither one of us wanting to step up first. I would have done it if I had better control over my powers and she would have done it if she had a reliable power. In the end, she decided to go first. It took her a while, but she somehow managed to convince herself to go first. She would later tell me that she did it to encourage me in some way. I gotta say, her display wasn't exactly encouraging. She hesitated before she stepped up for the group. She closed her eyes tight and began to focus while shaking her body to pump herself up like a athlete would. It took her a few seconds, but she finally managed to gain a new power. The power... to grow her nails really really long. No lie, she could've honestly cut somebody with them. They grew a couple of inches and we stood there, trying not to laugh at the pain she was about to feel within herself when she found out how useless her power is. It would have been mean of us to laugh at it, but it was kinda weird and random. Just like Ashley. Ugh, I hope that doesn't make me sound like a jerk. It was just funny, okay? She opened her eyes and before she can even see if she had a new, different power, she automatically looked at her nails and stared at it in utter disbelief. The look on her face made us snicker and laugh a little, but it appeared to not bother her. She was just mad at herself and her stupid power. She backed up into the line we formed in front of Wolverine with her face red in embarrassment.

And now it was my turn and I was scared. Scared that I would hurt the people near me. Scared that I'll hurt myself. My fear was a strong emotion, something strong enough to perhaps activate my powers like what happened the other day. I stepped up and took in a deep breath. I released the air within me and the worries that went along with it. I shook myself just as Ashley did to prepare myself before extending both of my arms with my palms out. I rolled my neck around and closed my eyes so that I could concentrate. I focused as hard as I could, as hard as I ever had too, but I didn't feel anything. No burning sensation within me. No heat overwhelming my body. None of the things I felt the other day came back to me when I needed it the most. When I needed to prove I can be a useful member of the team. But to myself, I felt as if I was a one-time mutant. Meaning I would use my powers one time and never use them again. Not because I didn't want to use them, but because I couldn't use them for some strange reason. I felt bad as I stood there like a idiot in the pose I was in. I opened my eyes to see disappointment on Wolverine's face with his arms firmly folded in front of his chest.

"Are you gonna stand there and look stupid or are you actually gonna do something?" He rightfully inquired.

"I'm trying." He replied rather weakly.

"Try harder!" He exploded, which shook me.

I dropped my hands and clenched my fists as I glared at my 'instructor'. "You know, you don't have to yell at me!"

"What are you going to do about it, kid?" He pressed, "Huh? Ya gonna make a stupid face and think things are just gonna come to ya?" He walked up to me and shove me, "Come on kid, is that all you got?" He shoved me once again, the burning sensation coming back to me.

"Don't touch me!" I roared with my hands aimed toward him as he stood a foot away from me. Surprisingly, fire came out of my hands, but narrowly missed him. It was a small fireball, smaller than the one Illyana conjured up with her unknown powers.

"Is that all ya got, kid? Ya expect to save people with that pathetic attempt of an attack? If so, people are gonna end up dead like your parents."

That was the last line for me! He pressed and pressed and he just had to bring up my parents. He knew about them from what he heard from his teammates. He was using that against me. Not cause he was a dick, though, to me at the time, he seemed like a pretty big one. It was because he knew that the only way my powers were gonna work was when I was angry, sad or just scared. Being scared didn't work, so angry and sad worked together just fine. He was trying to bring out the best in me... and I did.

As soon as he finished his sentence, after I heard him mention my dead parents, a fire blast came out of my body, shaped like my body and hit Wolverine with full force, knocking the hairy beast down. My eyes were as wide as they could be and my heart was pumping faster than it ever had. I wanted to hurt him, but I didn't exactly want to give him serious burns that could ruin him. I didn't know at the time that Wolverine could heal. They didn't exactly advertise that on the news channels I would watch. I knew what most of the X-Men could do. Like, I knew Wolverine could retract metal claws, cause I would see him face off against Sentinels or even other mutants, but they didn't show he could heal. So, when my 'instructor' got up from the floor with most of his costume burned because of me, I was shocked to see that the burns all over the front of his body were beginning to heal at a rapid pace. The hair that was no longer there due to my fire blast began to reform. His singed face began to heal back to what it used to be.

"What? You thought I was gonna go easy on ya because of what happened yesterday? You thought I was gonna give you special treatment? That's not the way things work around here, kid. You're not the only one who's been through things in this room. We've all been through some kind of traumatic experience. You tried using your power, but it didn't work. Wanna know why? 'Cause you're scared. Scared of your powers and what it might do to people. That kinda thinking on the field will put you and your team six feet under. So you went through some shit yesterday, so what? One thing I've learned in my long time on this planet is that ya can't live in the past because it'll mess with your future. You can't be scared to use your powers because of yesterday, because it'll mess you up tomorrow when Magneto or some mutant-hating human is staring you down with intent to kill. You need to let go of the past and move on. If ya don't, I guarantee you'll be the first to die in your group."

I stared at the small fuzzy man. Surprised that he was healing before my very eyes, but also struck by what he had just told me. At the time, I was furious with the man. Not wanting to listen to one word he had to say. But later on, after getting used to him and his ways, I would take his advice seriously. Then, I didn't respect the man or his advice. Now, I'm glad he gave me that push and the advice. It took me a while to appreciate the advice and the man behind it.

Like I said, I didn't want to hear shit he had to say after what he said about my dead parents. Against his shouting wishes, I walked out of the Danger Room, completely done with that class or whatever the hell it was considered. I still had that burning feeling within me, meaning that some fire was probably gonna come out of me. Once in the hallway, I leaned myself against the wall with my hands on my face. My breathing was rapid and heavy as I tried to calm myself down. His words along with the vivd picture of my parents death didn't exactly mix well together. I felt a hand grab my forearm and I swatted it away before uncovering my eyes to see Ashley standing to my side.

"Woah, hey, just tryna help." She said, her hands up in the air in surrender. She looked into my eyes and saw the pain within in them as well as the anger on my face. "Hey, calm down. He does that to all of us. Believe it or not, he's actually there to help us. Though his methods may be... dickish... Is that even a word?"

I exhaled through my nose deeply. "I can't do it Ashley, I can't deal with this shit. I'm not ready for this.. this kind of life. I'm not prepared for this."

"Jason, what you're basically saying right now is the Mutant slogan. We don't see ourselves having powers and once we do, we freak the hell out because we have no idea what to do. So it's completely normal for you to feel that way. That's how most of us feel when we're in your position. But, Jason, you gotta toughen up and roll with the punches, because, believe it or not, you got a giant target on your head. You gotta learn how to control your powers. You gotta learn to deal with Wolverine. And, most importantly, you gotta deal with being a mutant. Because, like it or not, you are one."

Her little speech somehow released all of the anger within me because she was right. I had to deal with all of that shit, whether I liked it or not. If I wanted to protect people, if I wanted to prevent what happened to my parents from happening to anyone else, I had to go through with this and deal with it. I'm glad she came out to see me and help me out. Without her, I probably would have exploded or something.

"Can we please try this again?" She asked with a small smile on my face. "You're gonna have to face the music-"

"Whether I like it or not." I finished.

"Exactly." She grabbed my arm and led me back to the Danger Room. "Come on, noob."

"Alright, Goldfish." She glared, but ultimately smiled in the end.

We re-entered the Danger Room to see Wolverine had fully healed and the others were waiting on us. Ashley felt as if she was responsible for me because the Professor asked her to watch over me. Bobby was concerned because I was the newest member of the team and his roommate. Illyana and Kitty didn't really know me all that well, but were concerned anyways. This was my new team. Them, along with Wolverine, the other kids, and the other professors, were my family. Whether I liked it or not. It wasn't all bad. They were all good people. Each and every one of them were different, and that's what I liked. This is what Professor Xavier talked about. My new extended family.

I stood in the line once more with Bobby on my left and Ashley on my right. Wolverine gave me a look, I didn't know whether it was good or bad. I didn't really care. I wasn't about to let him ruin this for me. I wanted to do some good with my gift. Wolverine looked up to the observation room and gave a nod. I quickly regretted going along with it when missile launchers, sharp spinning blades and orbs moving about at extraordinary speed with guns mounted below them started coming out of the walls and floors.

"Welcome to the X-Men." Ashley stated, just as nervous as I was.

I'm Jason Velasquez and I'm... about to get killed!

* * *

On the next issue of X-Men: New Mutants...

Wolverine puts the team through a simulation against Toad and things don't exactly go smoothly. Can Jason and his team overcome the agile Toad? Come back and find out!


End file.
